I’ve been an instant fan of iBoland since 2017 when I read her The Millionaires Wife. This is the perfect intense and engaging thriller you’ll love for a perfect Spring read! Swapping houses sounds like a great idea, but this didn’t turn out quite that way.
Boland never disappoints.

This book was completely compelling and addictive. Once I’d started it, I struggled to put it down. I was completely drawn into the two settings, which on the surface are normal or even on the glamorous side, but each one uncovers hidden secrets or dangers.

I was also completely hooked in by the two families. It’s clear from the beginning that neither family is perfect, but I did not expect the twists and turns that cause them to implode and unravel quite so spectacularly.

Once again, Shalini used some wonderful key features of the psychological thriller genre, such as the multiple perspectives including one unknown ‘mystery’ voice.

If you’re looking for an addictive and compelling psychological fiction book, this is the one for you. This book is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, S E Lynes & Nicole Trope.

My Review
I'm sure I'm not the only one that always has a great big smile on my face when I see a new book on the way from author Shalini Boland.
She is the queen of engrossing reads isn't she...
The Family Holiday is no different...
I could not leave it down at all...
A little shorter a read at 285 pages but each page packs a punch for sure.
We meet two families in this story...
Niall & his wife Beth along with their two boys and Amber & her husband Renzo and their two children.
Both families decide to do a house swap, Niall & Beth heading off to a beautiful Italian villa and Amber & Renzo settling for a small cottage in cold and rainy England.
Nice idea in theory but not so great in reality.
Beth has been so looking forward to her holiday. Her husband Niall is an author and between writing and the promotional side of his career, he doesn't have much time to spend with his family.
She hopes this holiday will do their marriage and family some good.
I couldn't help wondering what Beth saw in her husband though. He appeared rude and abnoxious all the time and his family seemed to be quite a burden to him.
Amber & Renzo I found to be an odd couple. Renzo seemed to be the easy, laid back one where as Amber came across to almost be the female version of Niall in taking her family for granted.
But don't you know nothing ever runs smoothly. Strange things begin happening in the villa..
One person lying about knowing people to the other. Suspicion, lies and deceit, this book has it all.
And just when you think you might know what is happening, you don't..
Expect lots of twists and turns to this one.
Jam packed with drama too...
Well worth your time...

Beth has been on at her husband for ages about going on holiday but her husband Niall travels promoting his successful books & has not been keen. However when Niall finds the lovely Italian villa on the house-swap site it looks almost too good to be true, especially when the owners seem keen to swap to an English cottage. If something sounds too good to be true it probably is! Beth had envisioned family time as well as rekindling her relationship with Niall. However he is as obnoxious in Italy as he is in England! When she discovers a photo of Niall in the house she wonders what is going on. Meanwhile in a damp English cottage we see Amber & Renzo. Amber is probably as obnoxious as Niall which takes some doing- why did she want to come here?

I'm a fan of Shalini Boland so I was keen to read this book. Although it was very readable I thought Niall & Amber were so awful & Beth & Renzo seemed so nice that maybe it shouldn't have been houses that were swapped- although I suppose that wouldn't have worked as a story! It was an enjoyable read although I didn't think it was as as good as other books she has written. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

DELICIOUS NOVEL!! If I didn't have to work I would've devoured this in one sitting. Shalini Boland made an incredible adventure with twists I never saw coming and a setting that was like being on holiday myself.
I had to stop reading half way through so I could order the book so I can have my own copy.

The story begins with an innocent plan of house swapping. One family will leave the UK to go to another Italian villa house while that family stays in their UK home. Beth and Amber are two very different personalities. When the neighbor calls Beth concerned about Amber staying in her home that is when the true feelings start to come out.

Beth is married to Niall who appears to have some secrets. He is portrayed as an absent husband and ended up being a character I really didn't like. He should've been more involved in his family, especially given the family holiday they were on.

Amber and Renzo seem to be the perfect couple! Their kids adore them and they have the most beautiful home. With that being said, why is Amber such a jerk? She has a sour personality to the nice neighbor causing a lot of suspicion.

I held my breath in so many sections, loved the drama and intensity of the relationships, and kept quizzing myself to see if I knew what would happen. I had a glimpse of the nightmares unfolding, but was completely wrong in my guesses which made it even more fun!

I can't wait for this book to come in so I can read it again. I feel like I'll get even more out of it now that I know the treachurous doings.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Shalini Boland for allowing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. I loved this book and will be ordering more by this author!

I just reviewed The Family Holiday by Shalini Boland. #TheFamilyHoliday #NetGalley

This was my third read from this author and it was just as enjoyable as the ones before! "The Family Holiday" is a quick, page turning thriller about two families who swap houses. We soon find out that there is more to this swap than it first seems.

Two families. One house swap. A vacation to die for.
Niall mentions a vacation to Beth and they decide to swap houses with the Masons, Amber and Renzo.. Niall and Beth are from the uk, the Masons from Italy.
I found from the very beginning that Niall was a selfish asshole and I did not like him at all and that Beth needed to get a backbone.
I also found Amber to be quite the bitch and I liked Renzo.
Beth and Niall's boys seemed to be more selfish than most teenage boys as well but I seemed to like Amber's and Renzo's children.
Then you add in Beth's nosy neighbor and the waitress that Beth and Nialll met and that leaves us wondering what is really going on. As I kept reading I was wondering what part they played in all of what was going on.
Beth finds a photo of Niall's and Amber in a pocket of a coat and confronts Niall but she doesn't believe what he is saying.
Later that night Beth finds Niall dead as he had fallen off the balcony and she realizes that their vacation is really over.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the book to review.

A brief synopsis: Beth and Niall live in Dorset. A decision is made that they’ll go on holiday, so they do a house swap. They’re going to the Italian coast, and the family that lives there will come stay in their cottage in Dorset. (That would squick me right out, having people stay in my house as if it’s theirs, but that’s another topic.) Beth hopes for a lovely holiday where she and Niall can work through this rough patch and get their marriage back on track. But alas, things do not go as she’d hoped. Stuff gets weird, bad things happen, and it isn’t looking like there will be a happily ever after here.

Now. My thoughts.

Not one of the main characters is truly likable. Beth, bless her heart, was such a doormat that I wasn’t sure whether to hug her or shake her. She takes whatever crap Niall wants to throw her way with minimal complaint. Beth had the unmitigated gall not to come running when Niall said to come NOW? Demerit. Beth drank too much? Black mark for her. The holiday isn’t perfect? Well, Beth planned it, so whatever is wrong is clearly her fault. And Niall throws a lot of crap her way. He is an abusive cretin of a man. He snipes at Beth for not devoting the entirety of her attention to family togetherness when it suits him, but he’s constantly bailing on family to go off and “work.” Every word out of his mouth seems crafted to cause Beth the maximum amount of mental anguish. I wanted to punch him.

Amber and Renzo aren’t much better. Amber is just a straight-up, stone-cold heifer. (I mean, she told Beth they’d leave their car at the airport for them, and then got a kick out of Beth’s frantic texts saying they couldn’t find it and worrying that it had been stolen. She knew good and well she didn’t leave the car at the airport, and it wasn’t a mixup or a slip. And that’s on the tame end of things Amber does.) She has not a nice bone in her body, and it seemed like Renzo deserved so much better than her. He puts her up on a pedestal and treats her like a princess. But then he turns out not to be worth a darn, either. Although his offenses, in the grand scheme of things, aren’t nearly as egregious as Amber’s. Still, maybe they did deserve each other.

And some of the plot really stretched the bounds of believability for me. If I’ve swapped houses for a vacation, there’s a break-in at my vacation house, and then two dudes who may or may not be Mafia come looking for the house’s owners? I am outta there like a flash. Gaslighting, abusive husband or no, my butt would be on a plane back to England. He could come or not, as he wished.

But this is a quick, tense, compelling read. I read it in two sittings, and it would have been one if I hadn’t had to get up early for work. Boland’s writing style pulls you into the story, whether the characters are pleasant or not. And the tension builds as the story goes. If you read the blurb, you know what’s coming at some point. But you don’t know when or how.

The epilogues at the end (yes, there are several) were a nice finishing touch. We learned something interesting about some folks, including the one really redeeming character in the book, Luciana. I think her epilogue made me like her even a little bit better.

So while the story gave me several reasons to want to scream and throw things, it was still a good read. Highly recommended for beach reading, as you can read it in one sitting if there aren’t any distractions. This was my first book of Boland’s to read, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last.

'The family Holiday' by Shalini Boland will leave you on the edge of your seat and absolutely surprised by the time you end the story.

Two families who do not know each other, meet each other on a house swap site and decide to do a house swap for their upcoming vacation. Niall and Beth with their two sons from the UK swap their cottage for a Swanky bungalow in Italy. The italian house belongs to Amber and Renzo Mason. What adventures did this house swap have for both families? You have to read the book to find out.

The sketching out of details of the swapping between Amber and Beth seems very interesting and both couldnt be too different from one another. The story slowly starts to uncover the issues in each family, the quirks in their personalities and their pasts.

The author has very beautifully woven the stories of both the families in a seamless story and through scenes in the book she makes us get an idea of the personalities of the characters. The intrigue keeps building till it reaches the very end and it shocks and surprises you. Through this story the author has brought out how the superficial facade of a family can crack at the slightest nudge

If you love to read psychological thriller with shocking and surprising ending then this story is for you. As for me, I have read a few of Shalini Boland's books and she always keeps me hooked. I am waiting for the next one

I thank Bookouture, the author and Netgalley for prividing me with an eARC and the opinions expressed are solely mine.

#netgalley #bookouture #thefamilyholiday publication date 29 March 2022
A house swap, A family vacation to die for, Who is the killer?
I was hooked to the pages of this one. Very well written I will definitely be looking for more books by Shalini Boland

Shalini Boland is a magnificent author. Her books are always well written, fascinating and intense. I highly enjoyed this book and everything else she has ever written.

First, I want to thank Shalini Boland, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

Shalini Boland is back with her latest jaw dropping psychological thriller The Family Holiday! She wrote a very unique storyline that had some very shocking twists that I didn’t see coming.

Shalini wrote this book about one of her favorite places in the world-The Amalfi Coast. This place holds a very special place in her and her husband.

The more I got into this book I totally agreed with Beth that staying in a hotel rather than a house swap was a better idea. The scenery and places they visited were beautiful. However, there were some odd things that went on at that house. I couldn’t stop laughing regarding the pictures that were posted.

These characters had some juicy secrets they were keeping from eachother! All these secrets lead to some major twists and turns in the storyline.

The graphic designers for The Family Holiday did a beautiful job on the cover!

Overall I found The Family Holiday a little disappointing. Yes it was enticing and thrilling to read, especially the latter half. Yes I loved the Italian setting for an escape read. But the characters for me were a bit two-dimensional, and the last sentence twist not wholly creditable. But nevertheless a good beach book. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Beth needs a holiday, and Niall (Kildare) okays it with a house-swap site with an Italian couple, Amber and Renzo (Masons).

Once everything is planned, tickets booked, and house prepped up for the holiday, the Masons move to Sherborne, Dorset, while Kildares reach their holiday villa in the Amalfi Coast.

It is not a smooth sailing for Beth and Niall, as they have a break-in during their vacation and some sinister plan weaved upon them. Eventually, there's a gruesome murder in the sunny villa.

Does Amber and Renzo have a motive to target the Kildares? Is this holiday a sham? Who is the murderer?

Read it to find the secrets involving both families and their ugly pasts.

This novel is definitely a slow-burn domestic drama/thriller where the characters and situations are well established and well written.

I was expecting more on psychological aspects with a twist. Of course, there is a twist in the tale, but it gave me a lukewarm feeling.

Overall, a good summer beach read with a decent storyline, but it could have been better

A home swap for a holiday,
A family trip to Italy to stay
A villa with a pool,
Leaving England that's too cool.
A holiday in the sun
Should be fun for everyone.

But secrets and lies,
Along with a photo surprise
Leave questions and more
Did her husband know her before?
He's lying and they both know
But what should she do, where to go?

With two families whose partners are unaware
Of their secrets or the need to take care.
Will the holiday help rekindle romance
Or prove to be a fatal last chance?
A new adventure with folks to meet
Days out, new friends, lots seem like a treat.

But who is lying about why they're there?
What is their reason, should others care?
An engaging family drama and mystery, too,
I have no hesitation in highly recommending to you.
For my copy of this book, I say thank you,
An enthralling read and this is my honest review.

Shalini Boland is one of my favourite authors, but this one fell short. Not bad, but a bit rushed, a bit sloppy. Not much substance to it.

I have to mention Niall... oh my soul. I would have thrown him over the balcony myself, what a dreadful man! Quite suited to Amber, in fact. Beth lacked a bit (okay, a lot) of stamina, which Luciana had in spades. Not bad, but not something I'd rush out and buy.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for my ARC.

We’ve all thought about it. Some may have even done it. When a husband goes online. Finds the perfect Italian Villa and someone that wants to swap for the cold England cozy cottage you own. What can go wrong? #thefamilyholiday #shaliniboland #bookouture was a phenomenal late night read. Each family. Woven with their own problems. One woman wanting to get away to hide. Another hoping this brings the spark back to their marriage. But. Then. Something goes wrong and someone winds up dead. The twists. The turns. Grab this one and get lost. #bookstagram #marriage #vacation #italianvilla #england #familyvacation #readersofig #murder

I love Shalini’s psychological thrillers and this one is another great five star read. It’s split between two families who house swap for a holiday. One family is from England and the other is from Italy. Total strangers swapping homes for a fortnight or are they. Is everything as it seems. Make sure you have some free time when you pick this book up because trust me you won’t want to put it down. There are twists and turns right to the very end. I highly recommend this book.

4.5 stars. This was a very enjoyable read by this author who’s books never disappoint. It was fast paced and kept my attention although the blurb was misleading. Good page turner with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing

A House Swap Shalini Boland Style!

Two families. Two Homes. A vacation Swap. Sounds like a vacation to die for!

Beth has been wanting to go on a family vacation. Her husband Niall is an author who travels a lot for work and never wants to go away - until now. They have a lovely cozy home and when they see a luxurious Italian Villa, they decide to go for it! This vacation is going to be a dream!

Amber Mason and her husband Lorenzo (Renzo) are looking forward to their family vacation in Dorset. But the nosey neighbor next door becomes a thorn in Amber's side.

Classic Boland. This book is full of quite a few twists, turns and reveals. This keeps the pace up and the pages turning. Do things get a little over the top? Sure, but that just adds to the fun!

This was a fun, entertaining, and fast paced page turner which kept me engaged the entire book. It proved to be a fast read for me as I did not want to put it down. I just had to know what was going to happen next!

A dream vacation become a staggering nightmare!

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.